Traditional Greek Christmas bread with beautiful braids filled with aromatic spices like star anise and mahleb and walnuts. Christopsomo is so tasty and if you have never tried it before, I strongly suggest you try it out.
I was so intrigued by Christopsomo after seeing the Chain Baker made this on his youtube channel. I’m so glad that I tried it out because my family loves this bread a lot. The bread is soft and fluffy with some crunch from the walnuts on the inside. The spices..oh my, they are so flavorful.
What is Christopsomo?
Christopsomo means Christ’s bread and it’s quite a symbolic loaf of bread. The bread is characterized by its cross-shape braid or “X” on the surface and with a whole unshelled walnut on the center. The cross or “X” symbolizes Christ. The unshelled walnuts symbolize the womb of the Virgin Mary. Some say it also symbolizes fertility or the cave where the Christ was born.
The bread is also flavored with aromatic spices like ground star anise and a special spice calls mahleb (mahlepi). What is Mahleb ? Mahleb is made by grounding the seeds of cherry. So these two spices really add nice aroma to the bread and make it extra special. The bread is prepared and served on Christmas Eve.
There are many variations of Christopsomo. Some families prepared them plain without any spices and nuts added. Some added dried fruits and other nuts to the bread too. From what I read, Christopsomo is usually eaten by tearing the bread by hands and no knife is used to slice the bread.
Substitute for mahleb (mahlepi)
You can get mahleb from Amazon (affiliate link),but if you don’t want to, you can just use ground cinnamon. It’s not an exact substitution,but it’s what commonly used to substitute.
How to bake Christopsomo
1. Put all ingredients for the dough in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough-hook attachment. Knead on low (speed 2) for 3-4 minutes until you get a rough dough
2. Then increase the speed to 4 and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes or until you reach a windowpane stage. When you stretch a small amount of the dough thin, the dough doesn’t break and a light can pass through
3. Take about 180 grams of the dough. We will use this for the braids later
4. Add walnuts pieces to the other dough and knead on low just to incorporate the nuts into the dough
5. Let both of the doughs proof at a warm place until they double in size. This may take somewhere about 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature
6. These are the proofed doughs
7. Divide the smaller dough into 6 equal portions. We will do two braids. Each braid needs three strands. Roll them into short logs. Cover and let them rest for 15 minutes so it’s easier to roll them into long strands for braiding
8. Use three strands to make one braid. Please refer to the photos below on how to braid. Repeat with the other three strands to make the second braids
So basically you move the right strand to the middle, then the left strand to the middle and you keep doing that until you reach the end
9. Repeat with the other three strands to make the second braids
10. Grease and Line a 7-inch round pan with parchment paper on the bottom and the sides
11. Punch the air out from the large dough with walnuts to distribute the air. Pull the edge to tuck and round into a large round ball.
Gently place one braid over the surface of the large dough and then another braid over it, to form a cross. Tuck the excess braids underneath the braid
12. Carefully transfer this into the prepared pan
13. Cover the dough and let it proof again for the second time until it doubles in size again. This may take another hour or longer, depending on how warm it is where you are
14. 15 minutes before the end of second proofing, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for a conventional oven. Lower by 20 degrees if you have a convection oven
15. When the bread has doubled in size, gently brush the surface with egg wash. Put one whole walnut with a shell on the center of the braid. I don’t have whole unshelled walnut so I just use one whole piece of shelled walnut. Then I decorate the rest of the surface with walnuts and sesame seeds
16. Bake in the preheated oven on the middle rack for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is about 200 F (93 C)
Remove from the oven and brush with some melted butter while still warm if you want to keep the crust soft. Let it cool down in a pan for about 5 minutes
17. Carefully transfer it out from the pan and let it cool down completely on a cooling rack. This may take one hour or longer. Don’t slice the bread when it’s still hot
Did you make this Christopsomo recipe?
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Christopsomo (Greek Christmas Bread with Walnuts)
Ingredients
- 210 gr water
- 4 gr active dry yeast
- 30 gr honey
- 20 gr cooking oil
- 350 gr bread flour
- 5 gr mahleb
- 4 gr ground star anise
- 4 gr salt
- 100 gr walnuts finely chopped
Egg wash:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp water
Garnish:
- Walnuts
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Put all ingredients for the dough in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough-hook attachment. Knead on low (speed 2) for 3-4 minutes until you get a rough dough
- Then increase the speed to 4 and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes or until you reach a windowpane stage. When you stretch a small amount of the dough thin, the dough doesn't break and a light can pass through
- Take about 180 grams of the dough. We will use this for the braids later. Add walnuts pieces to the other dough and knead on low just to incorporate the nuts into the dough
First proofing:
- Let both of the doughs proof at a warm place until they double in size. This may take somewhere about 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature
Shape the dough:
- Divide the smaller dough into 6 equal portions. We will do two braids. Each braid needs three strands. Cover and let them rest for 15 minutes so it's easier to roll them into long strands for braiding
- Use three strands to make one braid. Please refer to the photos above on how to braid. Repeat with the other three strands to make the second braids
- Grease and Line a 7-inch round pan with parchment paper on the bottom and the sides. Punch the air out from the large dough with walnuts to distribute the air. Pull the edge to tuck and round into a large round ball
- Gently place one braid over the surface of the large dough and then another braid over it, to form a cross. Tuck the excess braids underneath the braid. Carefully transfer this into the prepared pan
Second proofing:
- Cover the dough and let it proof again for the second time until it doubles in size again. This may take another hour or longer, depending on how warm it is where you are
- 15 minutes before the end of second proofing, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for a conventional oven. Lower by 20 degrees if you have a convection oven
- When the bread has doubled in size, gently brush the surface with egg wash. Put one whole walnut with a shell on the center of the braid. I don't have whole unshelled walnut so I just use one whole piece of shelled walnut. Then I decorate the rest of the surface with walnuts and sesame seeds
Baking:
- Bake in the preheated oven on the middle rack for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is about 200 F (93 C)
- Remove from the oven and brush with some melted butter while still warm if you want to keep the crust soft. Let it cool down in a pan for about 5 minutes
Cooling:
- Carefully transfer it out from the pan and let it cool down completely on a cooling rack. This may take one hour or longer. Don't slice the bread when it's still hot
